Dividend investors love a high yield and they are willing to give up growth for a higher yield. Not all stocks with a big dividend payment are good. That’s something I often told you. The main question is if you have enough money to resign the dividend. I do and you could it too if you have a long investment horizon.

A popular group of high-yield stocks could be found in the index of the S&P 500. The S&P 500 is a stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 leading companies publicly traded in the U.S. stock market, as determined by Standard & Poor's. As of now, around 18 companies from the index have a yield over 5 percent and five are currently recommended to buy.

As you see, a high yield is not only the only solution for a stock buy. There are so many criteria which make a stock attractive. I talk about growth and margins, which is at least an expression of a solid and strong market position. A trustful management as well as a stable business environment are also two very important factors to consider.

What do you think about high-yield stocks from the S&P 500? Are they attractive for investors or should you take a look at other stocks with lower yield? Please leave a comment.

Here are my favorite stocks:

AT&T (T) has a market capitalization of $191.70 billion. The company employs 241,130 people, generates revenue of $126.723 billion and has a net income of $4.184 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $27.595 billion. The EBITDA margin is 21.78 percent (the operating margin is 7.27 percent and the net profit margin 3.30 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 23.95 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 61.36 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 3.63 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $0.77. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.73 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 43.79, the P/S ratio is 1.51 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.90. The dividend yield amounts to 5.33 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.53.

Altria Group (MO) has a market capitalization of $67.66 billion. The company employs 9,900 people, generates revenue of $23.800 billion and has a net income of $3.393 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $6.321 billion. The EBITDA margin is 26.56 percent (the operating margin is 25.50 percent and the net profit margin 14.26 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 37.04 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 371.98 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 76.13 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $1.92. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.58 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 17.40, the P/S ratio is 2.84 and the P/B ratio is finally 18.56. The dividend yield amounts to 5.27 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.43.

Paychex (PAYX) has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion. The company employs 12,500 people, generates revenue of $2.229 billion and has a net income of $548.00 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $951.70 million. The EBITDA margin is 42.68 percent (the operating margin is 38.29 percent and the net profit margin 24.58 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 0.00 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.00 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 35.35 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $1.54. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.27 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.62, the P/S ratio is 5.18 and the P/B ratio is finally 7.17. The dividend yield amounts to 4.16 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.83.

Take a closer look at the full list of high-yield stocks from the S&P 500. The average P/E ratio amounts to 21.86 and forward P/E ratio is 15.35. The dividend yield has a value of 6.62 percent. Price to book ratio is 4.05 and price to sales ratio 2.14. The operating margin amounts to 18.89 percent and the beta ratio is 0.74. Stocks from the list have an average debt to equity ratio of 3.19. If we exclude Pitney Bowes, the value is 1.55.

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